After the cancellation of spring sports and a summer full of doubt of if there would be fall high school sports, the 2020 football season is finally here. For the Paris Eagles, the wait is over and its game week! The Eagles will host the Lavaca Golden Arrows on Friday night at Eagles Stadium. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
Friday’s season opener for both schools will feature a fresh start to a new season in which both Lavaca and Paris hope to show significant progress from last year. The Golden Arrows will begin their first year in Class 3A and are anxious to show that they can compete having moved up from Class 2A. On an interesting side note, the Lavaca junior high team was 9-0 last season, and should begin to show an impact to their varsity team starting this season. The Golden Arrows have increased numbers of players in their program, and coach Mark Headley will have both talent and numbers to build the future of the Lavaca football program.
Paris head football coach Tyler Clark is impressed with the Golden Arrows talent, especially their sophomore players. “The only film we have of them is from their scrimmage, but there are in particularly some sophomores that are very, very good. We know what that is like, because that was us last year. I expect them to be ready to play.” The Golden Arrows scrimmaged against Mt. Ida last week. “Scrimmages are such weird formats that it is hard to tell sometimes how a team performed. Mt. Ida, I think, has a heavy senior class on their roster; got some big linemen. Lavaca did some good things against Mt. Ida. Both Lavaca quarterbacks are pretty good athletes” (junior Cazen Winters and sophomore Maddox Noel).
For Paris, the Eagles have shown progress over the past two seasons, and with a wealth of talent in the skilled positions and on both lines of scrimmage, Paris is hopeful that this will be the year they return to the state playoffs since their last appearance in 2017. But for Paris coach Tyler Clark, he simply wants to see his team execute properly on Friday night. “I just want to see us execute. I want to see us play assignment football and I want to see us establish dominance up front; I want to see us go to the right guys on blocks. I want to see us make the right decisions up front. Just executing at a high level.”
With the conference realignments that are effective with this season, gone are the Mansfield Tigers, the Charleston Tigers, Cedarville Pirates, West Fork Tigers, and having moved up to Class 4A, the Lamar Warriors. In their places are the Mayflower Eagles, Little Rock Baptist Prep Eagles, Perryville Mustangs, Atkins Red Devils, and the Two Rivers Gators.
Lavaca, having moved to Class 3A for this season, will now welcome Cedarville, Hackett, West Fork, Greenland, Mansfield, Lincoln, and Charleston to their schedule. A tough road for a team that was 1-9 last year in Class 2A. But rest assured, the Golden Arrows will come to play each week, determined to prove they belong in Class 3A.
Lavaca’s 2020 schedule is:
August 28 at Paris
September 11 at Mountainburg
September 18 vs Johnson County Westside
September 25 at Cedarville
October 2 vs Hackett
October 9 at West Fork
October 16 vs Greenland
October 23 at Mansfield
October 30 vs Lincoln
November 6 vs Charleston
The Paris Eagles 2020 schedule is:
August 28 vs Lavaca
September 4 vs Johnson County Westside
September 11 at West Fork
September 25 vs Mayflower
October 2 vs Two Rivers
October 9 at LR Baptist Prep
October 16 at Atkins
October 23 at Perryville
October 30 vs Booneville
November 6 at Danville
For the 2020 season, Hooten’s Arkansas football has predicted Lavaca to finish seventh in the Class 3A-1 conference. The predicted order of finish for the Golden Arrow’s conference is:
- Cedarville
- Charleston
- Greenland
- Lincoln
- Hackett
- Mansfield
- Lavaca
- West Fork
The Class 3A-1 conference features newcomers Lincoln, who has moved down from Class 4A, Hackett, who has moved up from Class 2A, and Mansfield, who has moved down to Class 2A but will play football only in Class 3A.
The Paris Eagles, members of the Class 3A-3 conference, are predicted by Hooten’s Arkansas Football to finish fourth in their conference. If this holds true, the Eagles would return to the state playoffs this year as a #4 seed and would play a #2 seed in the playoffs. But, it is a long road through the regular season. The predicted order of finish in the Class 3A-3 conference is:
- Booneville
- Atkins
- Perryville
- Paris
- Danville
- Mayflower
- LR Baptist Prep
- Two Rivers
There doesn’t appear to be much difference between the projected third through fifth place finishers. Anything can happen, and factors such as who is the healthiest at the end of the season will go a long way to determining the final order of finish and the playoff seedings.
I asked Coach Clark if he had any concern about how his kids would handle the preseason publicity and expectations for this year’s team. Coach Clark said, “Our kids are pretty stable. The expectation is for us to be good this year and we are not going to hide from those expectations. But at the same time, we need to remember that everyone else in the state still views us as a 3-7 football team from last year. We’re picked 37th in the state by Hooten’s (Arkansas Football publication). I think our kids will still come out with an underdog mentality.”
For fans of both schools who plan to attend Friday night’s contest, please remember that Arkansas Department of Health and Arkansas Activities Association regulations aimed at mitigating the COVID-19 risk will be in effect. Face masks are required to be worn, and social distancing among groups will be enforced at Eagles Stadium. Player sidelines will be extended to the 10-yard lines, and special rules will be in effect for the positioning of media during the game. Let’s all do our parts to protect our students, support personnel, and ourselves so that we can continue to play high school football.
So, the stage is set for the 2020 high school football season, and the Eagles need their fans to show up big and support the players as the begin the quest to make the state football playoffs. Coach Clark told Resident Press, “I know that ticket sales are limited, but these kids need the support of the community. They need to know that they care about the work they have been putting in. And I know they will be there for us!”
And Coach Clark makes a good point. All summer, high school athletes across the state have worked hard with nothing but faith and hope that their work would not be in vain, and that they would have a chance to play in the fall. Well, their time has come, and fans from both schools need to come out and support these great high school athletes who now know that they are finally going to have the opportunity to play.
The weather forecast for Friday night includes a chance of rain due to the outreach of a hurricane that is moving through the Gulf of Mexico. Be prepared for a possible wet night, and Resident Press will do the same! RP will be at Eagles Stadium to catch all the action for our readers. Look to Resident Press for a recap of the game Saturday morning, as will be published each and every week of the high school football season.
So, football fans! It’s game week! Grab your umbrellas and head to Eagle Stadium, and Resident Press will see you there!
